The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Zhou Mansion.

Correspondents from "Li Pao" and "Ta Kung Pao" were sitting in the living room at the moment, waiting for Zhou Hexuan to express his views on the "Xi'an Incident".

The head of state was detained by soldiers. The matter was so big that newspapers everywhere couldn't help but pay attention to it.

"Take it and publish it this way." Zhou Hexuan wrote a temporary commentary and handed it to the correspondents sent by the two newspapers.

The correspondent of "Li Pao" took a look at the article and saw that the title was "Possibility, criticality and rationality of peaceful settlement of the incident." After reading the article, the correspondent was surprised and said: "Mr. Zhou, don't you condemn it in the article?"

"Things have happened. Is condemnation useful? What matters is how to solve it." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

Decades later, people naturally believed that launching the "Xi'an Incident" was correct and beneficial to the country and the nation. But at this moment, the direction of public opinion is leaning towards the central government and Chiang Kai-shek, and all walks of life are openly criticizing Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng.

Even patriotic democrats such as Zhu Ziqing and Wen Yiduo jointly drafted a declaration accusing Zhang Xueliang. Presidents and professors of many universities in Nanjing, Peking, and Shanghai, as well as academic institutions such as Academia Sinica and Academia Sinica Beijing, have called the country or called Zhang Xueliang to severely condemn.

More than 100 newspapers and news agencies, including Shenbao, Ta Kung Pao, and Yi Shi Bao, jointly issued a joint declaration of the press on the current situation, and 217 magazines jointly sent a telegram to attack Zhang Xueliang. There are more than 100 social groups that have expressed concerns about the current situation, and more than half of the groups condemned Zhang Xueliang's military remonstrance.

Anyone with a little bit of vision and thinking ability was frightened by the "Xi'an Incident". Even if Chang Kaishen is no longer popular among the people, he will still be the head of state. If the situation is not handled properly, China will usher in a new round of large-scale civil war.

Internationally, all countries stood with Chiang Kai-shek, including Germany, the Soviet Union and Italy. The only one who feels excited and happy is probably Japan. Japan is eager for the civil war to resume in China.

Judging from the current public opinion at home and abroad, it is undoubtedly beneficial to Chang Kaishen. The "Xi'an Incident" must be resolved peacefully.

The key to a peaceful resolution lies with Zhang Xueliang, who is at the center of the storm and the link between all parties. Therefore, he chose to sacrifice himself and use himself as a weight to maintain the outcome of the negotiations. He personally escorted Chang Kaishen out of Xi'an and was placed under house arrest for life.

In fact, the negotiations did not end normally because Chiang Kai-shek refused to sign and only agreed to a gentleman's agreement. Under this situation, all participants were unwilling to let the tiger go back to the mountains, but Zhang Xueliang secretly released Chiang Kai-shek without telling his allies.

This is probably the best solution. If we continue to force Chang Kaishen to sign, it is likely to trigger a war and may also cause the Nanjing central government to split.

After regaining his freedom, Chiang Kai-shek was indeed treacherous. He not only placed Zhang Xueliang under house arrest, but also dispatched the Central Army to attack the northwest, but the real war did not start.

The reason why there was no fight was very simple. During the negotiations on the Xi'an Incident, Chiang Kai-shek had the upper hand in domestic and foreign public opinion. However, he went back on his words afterwards and failed to abide by his promise to fight against Japan. He was immediately scolded by all walks of life. Even European and American countries accused him of acting indiscriminately. Opposition within the Kuomintang was also loud. Wang Zhaoming even took the opportunity to return to politics. .

Under this situation, Lao Jiang did not dare to fight at all - his real purpose of marching to the northwest was not to annihilate the Red Army, but to annex the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army. Chiang Kai-shek even ordered the opening of trade in the Red Army base areas, the restoration of some postal and telecommunications services, and the lifting of the military blockade on Yan'an to a certain extent.

A gentleman's agreement is also an agreement, and sometimes it is even more effective than a formally signed agreement.

Zhang Xueliang is very smart. He saw this, maybe he has experienced too much and has become mature.

The generals of the Northeastern Army and the Northwest Army were very dissatisfied with Chiang Kai-shek's refusal to sign. They came to Zhang Xueliang and responded: "We are doing it for you with our heads high. How come you didn't even sign in the end?" Zhang Xueliang replied: "You have political consciousness. He is not as high as me. Although Chang Kaishen was arrested, his political strength is still there. Since we want to release him and praise him as a leader, if we force him to sign, he will regret it then. It is also good to have a gentleman's agreement. ."

You must know that the background of the Xi'an Incident was that Chiang Kai-shek gathered 30 divisions of his direct troops, plus the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army to jointly encircle and suppress the Red Army. If we had not detained and released Chiang, I don’t know how much money would have been wasted on food, how much supplies would have been consumed, and how many soldiers and civilians would have been injured.

This incident successfully avoided a civil war involving hundreds of thousands of troops. Only the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army fell victim, and were gradually divided and disintegrated by Chiang Kai-shek afterwards. The Red Army gained a breathing space, and also provided a platform for the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to fight against Japan. Retained vitality.

Zhou Hexuan sent the two correspondents away, and the servant immediately came to report that a fellow prisoner was visiting outside the door.

Seeing Wang Er again, Zhou Hexuan felt a little surprised. He had long forgotten about the thief he met in the Nanjing Detention Center, and asked curiously: "What's the important matter of the visit of the three of you?"

"Mr. Zhou, we are here to seek refuge with you." Wang Er was not polite, holding a kettle and pouring tea himself. "I heard that you were providing disaster relief in Sichuan, and we also transported 1,000 loads of relief grain. Those grains will be handed over to the relief organization during the Fengjie Festival. Someone who knows how to do it.”

Zhou Hexuan clasped his fists and said, "On behalf of the victims of the Sichuan disaster, I would like to thank the three martyrs. However, I do not claim to be king or hegemon, nor do I plan to establish a gang organization. I am afraid I have nothing to rely on."

Yuan Wujiu said: "Mr. Zhou's words are wrong. Corrupt officials are rampant in Sichuan. You can't do it alone. We can help eliminate corrupt officials and punish bullies!"

"I admire Mr. Wang Yaqiao very much," Zhou Hexuan changed his tone and said bluntly, "However, I don't believe in his tactics. Whether it is assassination or anarchy, they are of no help to the salvation of the nation. It can even disrupt normal social order."

Zheng Rentong smiled and asked: "Does Mr. Zhou think that the current social order is normal? If the way of heaven is unfair, then one should act for it; if the society is unjust, then someone should stand up for it!"

"Then what?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

"What then?" Zheng Rentong didn't understand.

Zhou Hexuan said: "If you kill a corrupt official, another corrupt official will appear. If you kill a traitor, another traitor will appear. When will we finish killing him?"

Yuan Wujiu slapped the table and said: "Killing a corrupt official will scare many people away from becoming corrupt officials. Killing a traitor will scare many people away from becoming traitors!"

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said to Zheng Rentong: "This Mr. Zheng must be a scholar too. He must have heard how Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, punished corrupt officials. Those who embezzled more than 60 taels of silver would be tortured by peeling off the skin and making grass. What happened? , but the corrupt officials killed more and more. So much so that Zhu Yuanzhang did not dare to kill anymore, because there were not enough officials, so he could only let the corrupt officials continue to work. Sometimes when the government decides a case, the prisoner kneeling in the hall is shackled, and the person in charge in the hall is The officials who were investigating the case were also in shackles. Which method was more powerful for killing corrupt officials, or was Zhu Yuanzhang’s method for killing corrupt officials more powerful?"

"This..." Zheng Rentong's tone stopped, and he said helplessly, "We are naturally not as good as Ming Taizu."

Wang Er asked curiously: "Why did Zhu Yuanzhang kill more and more corrupt officials?"

"There are issues with the system and culture," Zhou Hexuan explained. "In terms of the system, Zhu Yuanzhang came from a poor background, and the salary he set for officials was too low. With the normal wages of an official, he could barely support his wife and children, and could not support his servants. There is no way to maintain social expenses, so officials can only make money through corruption. In terms of culture, there are many problems left over from the Yuan Dynasty. Corruption is generally regarded as a normal thing. You are greedy, I am greedy, everyone is greedy, and you are a fool if you are not greedy. "

Yuan Wujiu asked: "Mr. Zhou, what do you think is the current problem of corrupt officials in China? I read your book "The Dog Official" and was so angry that I couldn't sleep for several days. The officialdom in your novel is so dark!"

Zhou Hexuan said: "With regard to system, culture and financial problems, the power of officials cannot be restricted, and the central and local governments cannot pay out money. Whether officials are corrupt or not, and how much they are corrupt, all depends on their own conscience. And conscience is the most unreliable Yes, corrupt officials will naturally become rampant."

"If we don't rely on killing, how can we solve it?" Yuan Wujiu asked.

Zhou Hexuan said: "Establish a clean and efficient government and solve it thoroughly from both the institutional and financial aspects."

Zheng Rentong sneered: "As for the current Nanjing government, I'm afraid they won't be able to do it even if they are given 100 years."

"You used to work for Guangdong Chen Jitang, right? Can his local government do it?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

Zheng Rentong said: "Our Ax Gang did not take refuge with Chen Jitang, but only cooperated with him to fight against Chiang Kai-shek. Besides, Chen Jitang managed Guangdong pretty well. At least the people were not exploited too much."

Zhou Hexuan waved his hand and said: "Chen Jitang did not exploit the people desperately because he has stable financial resources. Tungsten ore is the most important military resource in the world today, not much worse than oil. China is the largest producer of tungsten ore in the world, and China's No. 1 The big tungsten mine is in Jiangxi, so Chiang Kai-shek tried his best to encircle and suppress the Red Army. In addition to political factors, he only focused on the tungsten mine in Jiangxi. The second largest tungsten mine in China is in Guangdong. The money Chen Jitang earns from selling tungsten mine every year can Feeding several Sichuan, so he did not have to exploit the people, and even established an air force capable of resisting the central government."

"That's it." Zheng Rentong had learned a lot.

Yuan Wujiu asked: "If the Nanjing government is not good enough, and neither is Chen Jitang, which government does Mr. Zhou think can solve the problem of corrupt officials?"

Zhou Hexuan pointed to the north and said with a smile: "You three can go to Yan'an to have a look."

"I won't go," Yuan Wujiu waved his hands repeatedly, "I have a few brothers who went to Yan'an, and they wanted to persuade me to go together. But there are too many rules there, and I can't stand it. No one will care about me when I go there." comfortable."

Zheng Rentong smiled and said: "I won't go either, there's no use for me there."

Wang Er laughed and said: "Yan'an will definitely not let me do my old job. Even if I steal, I won't get anything."

"Then I have no choice," Zhou Hexuan shrugged, "If the three of you want to stay as guests, I welcome you with both hands. You can stay as long as you want. But don't talk about defecting. My people are not allowed to steal or kill. , unless there is an emergency. By the way, Liu Xiang is establishing a spy organization to fight the spies sent by Chiang Kai-shek to Sichuan. You may have a chance to display your ambitions by joining him. "

Yuan Wujiu said disdainfully: "Liu Xiang is nothing. Sichuan has been governed like this by him. At first glance, he is an incompetent bastard."

Zheng Rentong said with a smile: "Then let's stay at Mr. Zhou's house as a guest and just give him food to eat."